Stormwalker (Stormwalker Series, Book 1)

This was the first book I read about a storm wielder. Janet Begay is a Navajo, or Diné, woman born with the power to wield rain, wind, lightning.. all the powers of the storm. She inherited this from her grandmothers family on her father's side. Her grandma is incredibly powerful in her own right. I adored all the characters in this book, all realistic, for a paranormal book, and very likeable. Janet's mother is a goddess in the land Beneath, a different plane of existence. She wants to rule both planes of existences and needs Janet to do that. Hell bent on twisting Janet's will her mother sends all sorts of nasty creatures after her. With her hot fire wielding boyfriend Mick, the insatiable god Coyote and the nasty tempered Sheriff Nash Jones it is a recipe for a great novel. There is also the interesting employee's Janet hires. This was a fast paced fascinating novel! I have already bought the next Firewalker (Stormwalker)

Janet Begay, a Navajo Stormwalker through her father's family, is able to command the power of storms though powerful magic. She is also half-goddess, thanks to her estranged mother, a goddess herself trapped in the mystical realm of Beneath. Janet travels to the Southwestern town of Magellan to investigate the disappearance of the police chief's daughter. Magellan is located near several vortexes, gateways to the world of Beneath. Janet suspects her mother may be involved in the young woman's disappearance, as she will stop at nothing to find the key to open a vortex and escape from Beneath. Shortly after arriving in Magellan, Janet's mysterious ex-boyfriend Mick shows up in town, someone she hasn't seen in five years. Mick also possesses supernatural power, though Janet is unsure of what type of magical being he is, and he will tell her very little about himself. Janet knows that Mick can brandish fire without getting burned, and he is unaffected by her storm power. But what does he really want with her? Can she trust him to stand by her during the biggest battle of her life? Wow! I've been waiting for this book's release since I read the prequel A Little Night Magic in the anthology Hot for the Holidays. It was well worth the wait. Stormwalker was a page-turner! It was an action-packed urban fantasy, sexy paranormal romance and mystery/suspense all in one story. The plot is full of twists and turns, and you're never quite sure who's on the side of good or evil. The author has created a cast of fascinating characters - from a trickster god that changes from man to coyote to a bi-sexual talking magic mirror! I loved the first-person perspective of Janet Begay. She is an engaging heroine who had me fighting, cringing, laughing and crying along with her. She's the first character in a long time who could rival Sookie Stackhouse (Southern Vampires Series)! Any fan of urban fantasy or paranormal romance would enjoy this story.

Stormwalker Janet Begay just wants a normal life, but knows that is impossible. She leaves behind her wild man of magical fire Mick who is able to release her dangerous excess energy levels and travels to Magellan, Arizona where magical vortexes converge. There she hopes to learn what happened to the police chief's daughter Amy McGuire, who mysteriously vanished. However, Janet may wish for a normal life, but besides being a Stormwalker, her mother is a nasty goddess from hell. Meanwhile her Mick follows her, but he still conceals his past from her especially why he is one of a few essences who can deal with Janet's Stormwalker magic. Janet has other issues to contend with as she believes her dearest mom is behind the vanishing and much more. It is as if she decided the time to confront her daughter is now. This is a super sublime urban fantasy starring a wonderful heroine who with a mom like she has finds trust uneasy to give especially when she feels the person she wants to give her heart to hides something about his nature from her. The story line is action-packed with a magical mirror providing jocularity; but this tale belongs to the title character who is the daughter of the mother form hell. Harriet Klausner

Wow. Just wow. I had originally thought that the Native American female lead was soon becoming overused. I thought: okay, the concept of the story sounds interesting, but this Janet character probably wont stand a chance against Mercy Thompson or Jane Yellowrock. How very wrong I was. If anything, I must concede now that Janet holds this certain type of allure that neither Jane nor Mercy have. I've always been attracted to the types of characters who have some elemental powers, and Janet Begay's specialty is definitely something that interests me. As a Stormwalker, she has the ability to control any storm around her--even if it gives her the worst hangover-feeling after. Imagine Storm from X-men, except instead of commanding storms around her, Janet needs a storm in order to tap into her power. This lends to interesting situations that reveal just how cunning and resourceful she can be. There is no random man that Janet stumbles upon during her journey. Instead, readers are introduced to a sexy, arrogant, frustrating fire-wielder named Mick. Can I just say that Mick is one sizzling ex-boyfriend? In the beginning of the book, when he finally saunters into the current scene (and into my heart), Janet slowly begins to explain why the two separated in the first place, and I felt myself sympathizing with the poor girl. Who would ever want to be smothered while dating someone? I know I wouldn't. Yet despite this, I still wanted to grab Janet by the shoulders to give her a good shake. Actually, now that I think about it, I wanted to do the same to Mick also. Gotta love it when characters are ignorant...especially in the good way. But Tori, you might ask, how can characters be ignorant in a good way? While the tension betwixt the two characters is frustrating to a certain extent, I think that on some level, the two know that they--despite differing feelings--care for each other, which comes before all else. There is this certain appeal, for me at least, when two characters have a history together. Allyson doesn't instantly deliver a relationship with a happily ever after for either characters, but she does offer a relationship with instant gratification. Readers aren't forced to be wary due to anything being rushed. If Janet and Mick decide they want to have sex, then we can rationalize it by saying that, due to a past together, they are reconnecting. Humans do it all the time. It was perfect for the two of them. I'm almost tempted to guarantee that this plot will make you grow animated at some point, but I won't. Read the book, and see for yourself if you had the same reaction I did. For me, it was when I reached the end of chapter 17. I won't go into the details about what happened (because it is way too juicy to spoil for anyone) but all I could think and gasp and then scream was: "What, what, what, WHAT?!" In fact, I'm still flabbergasted. Biggest. plot. twist. ever. I loved it! Allyson James has a new and interestin

Everyone spends a part of their life fighting off the demons that chase us. In the case of Janet Begay, a Stormwalker who has the ability to call the power of any storm and bend it to her will, that is a literal statement with actual demons chasing her down and trying to kill her. Janet's mother is the evil Goddess of the Beneath who is trying to convince Janet to join her in ruling the dark side of the underworld and taking over the planet. What Janet's mother needs is a body to serve as her vessel to rise from the Beneath and she sees opportunity in Janet's body and mind. But Janet knows she is key to whatever her mother is up to and fighting off everything that comes her way is not always easy and when she goes home because being that close to the mystical energy of the vortex from where her mother rules is dangerous but has to be done. Janet did not turn out to be the daughter of her mother's nightmare and running from the past has worn Janet down and now she has come home to face the demons literally and rid herself of their controlling influence knowing full well it may mean losing her own life. But trouble seems to come along for any ride Janet takes and before she has dusted her boots off she finds herself in jail and squaring off with the local sheriff, Nash Jones who is none too pleased to have her in his town. Janet is there to solve the disappearance of the sheriff's fiancé who one day never came home. He is part of a group of non-believers in all things mystical and believes if he the sheriff could not find her she is dead and he does not want anyone stirring up bad memories. But Janet is a master of stirring up all kinds of bad things and this is one mystery she will solve, once she gets out of jail. While she is there Janet also decides to reopen a hotel and renovate it to its former glory - what the heck it gives her something to do between demon fights and working out the issues with her boyfriend Mick who refuses to answer any questions with a straight answer. How is it possible she knows this man's body so intimately but not his last name? She knows he has magic and supernatural abilities but he refuses to give her a real reason for anything. There is so much trying to stop her and few helping that when even a coyote turns out to be on her side she says okay to his help. But some truths are revealed that even Janet discovers she didn't want to know about and tries her best to reconcile fact from fiction and fight to keep both feet planted in reality. Wow what a great book this is. The action never stops, the characters are so believable you feel they might be your neighbors, the romance is over the top hot and storyline is scary enough to make you not want to stop reading until you figure everything out - which you never really do because there is more books in the series..... Mary Gramlich is The Reading Reviewer located at [...]